“They replied, ‘We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?’
Jesus told them, ‘This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one He has sent.’” John 6:28-29 NLT
What good news this is! I needn’t make a pilgrimage to Mecca or live a lifetime in which the balance of my “good” works outweigh the “bad”. The instruction Jesus provides is such that a child or even one relegated to a wheelchair or a hospital bed can comply. And once it is understood, there is no period of waiting or striving that must occur before it can be realized. For belief is instantaneous! Additionally, this “one work” need have no regret attached to it. For what does it matter if one is 4, 40, or 104 when they first believe? If this indeed is the only work that you are to undertake over the course of your entire life, and through whatever circumstances or even the resistance provided by your own fallen nature you get to it as a child or on your deathbed, what does it truly matter except that it is done? Eternal Life is right there, knocking on your door! All you need do is believe! But if perhaps that even seems too much, be consoled by the fact that Jesus saw fit to heal the son of a man who when charged with the work of believing in order for the healing to occur only had the strength to respond: “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”.
What a gracious God.